


Amo Te, Ama Me

by chibimono



Series: Astragali [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece & Rome, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Centaurs, Flower Crowns, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27602279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibimono/pseuds/chibimono
Summary: A shade from the Underworld, Gabriel had nothing. Not even a soul of his own. He had nothing to give to the one he loved.
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: Astragali [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017955
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	Amo Te, Ama Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [airafleeza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/airafleeza/gifts).



> A birthday present for my dear friend Airafleeza. I didn't manage to work a smooch into my entry for the Flesh & Bone zine, so I wrote a sequel for her to give her the R76 smooches she deserves.  
> I edited this myself, so all mistakes and awkward phrases are my fault. The title is Latin for "I love you, love me”.

Children carried armfuls of wildflowers as they chased after the tawny centaur, clamoring for a chance to weave them into his blond tail. Jack flicked it lazily as he walked the busy street, to tease them and make them laugh as they grabbed at it with tiny hands. When Jack could find a small patch of unoccupied lawn in the gardens just outside the market, he happily flopped into the sweet grass and rolled around a little before settling against a tree and letting the children gather around.

Gabriel watched from the shade above, lounging lazily on a branch over Jack’s head. He watched the clumsy little fingers tangle the stems in Jack’s soft blond hair and make flower crowns at sizes too small or too large to fit the centaur’s head. Jack endured it with the grace of a paragon, never once flinching or snapping when the children became too rough and only offering smiles and praise.

Jack was no longer the only centaur to rise from the ocean. His brothers and sisters whipped the sea into whirlpools of jealousy when Jack was able to remain upon land, settling only when Neptune offered them each a chance to do the same. Yet centaurs continued to be a rare sight to see and fascinating to those with a curious eye, like children. Jack could still pull a large crowd of admirers on the first few days visiting a new town. 

For Gabriel, Jack was the only centaur of importance, the only centaur worth knowing. A brother in arms, a fellow traveler, a sweet soul, Jack was Gabriel’s dearest best friend. And dare he say it, dearer to Gabriel than ever his wife or child. 

While Gabriel loved his family, it was always in a dutiful and distant way of that of a soldier always on the march. A family was something to care for, to work toward, to long for, but to never truly know and learn to cherish. He did his best by them in life, through great strife and hardship. Even in death, he gave his soul to the service of the generous Lord Dīs, God Pluto of the Underworld, to give them paradise in the afterlife.

His life long since taken away and his soul no longer his own, Gabriel held tight to what little he had for himself. He travelled the mortal realm with a few weapons, his friendships forged in battle against the titan omnics, and his heart full for his congenial centaur companion.

His playful, reckless companion, who never looked to Gabriel in disappointment or regret. There was always a smile or a laugh waiting for Gabriel, a kind hand or gentle gesture. Jack was alway the first to grab Grabriel before jumping into adventure, slinging him over his broad backside if needs must. The first to turn to Gabriel in times of excitement or pain or wonder, the first to share them with Gabriel when no others would before. He found himself turning the same way to Jack just as much.

As the children were called away for their midday meal and rest, Gabriel slipped from his branch to follow the noon shadows down along the tree’s trunk, reforming from his umbral state at Jack’s side. Jack acknowledged his presence with an easy smile, his tail flicking against the grass and dislodging a great many petals.

“I suppose you’ll need a good brushing later,” Gabriel murmured in the lazy afternoon heat. “I’ll save what flowers I can manage.”

Jack chuckled lightly, looking at the massacre of petals and stems the children left scattered around him. “I have enough, I think,” he said with a pleased hum, his fingers brushing over the flower chains winding about his wrists, neck, and waist. His crown had slipped haphazardly down over an ear, but he made no move to adjust it.

With his bottom half being that of a horse, Jack was always taller than Gabriel, especially so while sitting down. Gabriel has to kneel up to resettle the wildflowers back upon Jack’s head properly. When his steady hands were sure the flowers would stay put, he caught eyes with Jack.

As deep and as blue as the ocean Jack was born from, Gabriel found himself lost in those eyes so often. Drowning in the ache those eyes made in his chest. Jack tended to stare back when he caught Gabriel, but Gabriel was always the first to look away, worried what story his face told.

They’ve never been so close before when their eyes met. Gabriel was always able to look away, but there was no escape here, with all of Jack taking up his vision before him. Breath catching with desperation, Gabriel feared what Jack saw. Was his heart showing? Was pain there? Was his guarded longing plain to see?

Gabriel’s forgotten hands drifted down from the crown on Jack’s head to cradle Jack’s face, cupping at his jaw and brushing stray petal detritus from his cheeks with his thumbs. Such a beautiful contradiction seeing an ocean nymph in the trappings of an inland beast, garlanded in flowers. Such a beautiful nymph. Friend. Sweet, precious soul. Elysium in the mortal realm.

His chest ached. Orpheus could turn away from his Euridyce long enough to journey the whole path from the heart of the Underworld to the surface, but could not wait for her to cross the threshold herself before he looked upon her again. Gabriel knew, in his swollen, tender-sore heart, that he could never make it so far himself. His eyes could never stray from Jack for more than a few beats of his hopeless heart.

There was something soft and full of wonder in Jack’s blue depths. Gabriel watched him tilt his head curiously, as if he was just as surprised that Gabriel couldn’t turn away from him. When he smiled at Gabriel, slow and sweet, Jack’s eyes went half-lidded and looked up through his golden lashes. It left Gabriel breathless.

Jack leaned toward him, and Gabriel expected the usual touch of their foreheads or a nuzzle to his hair, Jack’s usual gestures for greetings and thanks. Instead, he was graced by a gentle gust of warm breath as a tentative brush of lips met Gabriel’s own.

Gabriel’s heart skipped a beat, seizing and squeezing in his chest. His eyes blinking in disbelief. Had Jack truly just kissed him?

When Gabriel, frozen in awe, made no further move, Jack’s pleased smile began to dim. “The dryads said men couldn’t resist the charms of nymphs,” he said with a rueful little laugh. “I guess that excludes nereids. Out in the waters, the sirens get to them before we can, so we never knew.”

“I am no man,” Gabriel blurted. He was just a shade, with no soul to offer this beautiful ethereal creature. There was so very little left of himself to give, nothing at all worthy for this centaur.

Jack shook his head, freeing himself from the gentle cradle of Gabriel’s hands. “You are man enough, to me. But what do my charms matter? You’ve resisted them all.”

“Resisted?” Gabriel barked a harsh laugh, startling himself with the hysteria he heard in it. “I didn’t even know you had charms to cast, let alone towards me. But resist you? I could do no such thing.”

His smile sad and wistful, Jack lowered his eyes to the ground. “You’ve always been so kind to me. You even lie with sweet words. But you’ve never shown me interest more than a friend or brother in arms, so it makes things hard to believe you.”

“No, Jack,” Gabriel said, his voice low and forceful. He tipped up the centaur’s chin to draw his beautiful blue eyes to his own. “I cannot lie to you. Your trust and honor mean the world to me.”

Blinking slow, Jack gazed at Gabriel in disbelief. “You've given me no proof. You don’t return these feelings.”

“I have no proof to give. I have no home, very little coin, and can barely see myself fed, let alone feed you as well. I have nothing, not even my life to give to you. My soul isn’t even my own. What could I ever offer you to show you my heart is true?”

“Gabriel,” Jack said, with all the patience of an adult dealing with a clueless child. “I am a nereid. I’ve had nothing of my own, swarmed always by my hundreds of brothers and sisters that move the seas. I still had nothing when reborn in this form from the ocean. And I will be able to take nothing with me when my time is done here, as I will return home to become foam upon the waves. I have no need for material things.”

“Then… what do I do? How can I show you?”

A smile broke over Jack’s face, like dawn over the ocean’s horizon, slowly, but brightly and so very beautiful. “Just. Love me.”

Of all the things in his mortal and afterlives, love never seemed so easy to Gabriel. Always somehow complicated by duty, or by honor, or even by money. Jack, of all beings, could only make it so simple and sweet.

He could have this, Gabriel thought as he touched his fingers to Jack’s cheek. He watched Jack nuzzle into his hand, leaving little kisses against his palm. This was his, Gabriel’s aching heart sang as he brushed his thumb over Jack’s bottom lip.

Jack’s eyes shown in the afternoon sun, glittering with emotion. “I am but one of so many others, and yet you look at me like I’m something so very rare.”

Gabriel leaned into Jack, touching his forehead to that of the tawny centaur in fondness. “Aren’t you, though? Being the one I love?”

When their lips met, Gabriel wouldn’t let himself be stunned. Dazed and breathless afterwards, perhaps, but he made sure this time to return the kiss with every bit of himself he did possess.


End file.
